[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] As a week has passed since the building collapse disaster in the Gwangju redevelopment area, the police are accelerating their investigation.
The Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency's redevelopment collapse accident investigation headquarters announced on the 16th that they have so far booked 14 people and applied for arrest warrants for 2.
On the 10th, the day after the accident occurred, 7 people were booked, and an additional 7 were booked the day before.
Among them is Moon Heung-sik, the former president of the May 18th Detained and Injured Association, who is currently suspected of being involved in the redevelopment project.
It is reported that Moon fled to the United States on the 13th. The police are currently in contact with Moon and are trying to persuade him to return to Korea.
The police are focusing their investigation on the cause of the collapse, illegal subcontracting, the selection of companies, and the appropriateness of administrative agencies responsible for supervision related to this accident.
Following searches at the Gwangju City Hall, Dong-gu Office, and the Hakdong 4 District Redevelopment Association office the day before, police sent specialized investigators from the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency to execute search warrants at the Seoul headquarters and construction headquarters offices of Hyundai Development Company on this day.
It was also confirmed that illegal subcontracting occurred at the reconstruction site of Hakdong 4 District where the accident happened.
The main contractor, Hyundai Development Company, subcontracted demolition work to Hansol Enterprise, which then subcontracted it again to Baeksol, a local demolition company.
The subcontracting between Hyundai Development Company and Hansol is not problematic, but Hansol subcontracting again to Baeksol constitutes illegal subcontracting.
Earlier, the police booked a total of 7 people on charges of professional negligence resulting in death or injury: 3 from Hyundai Development Company, 2 from Hansol Enterprise, 1 from Baeksol Construction, and 1 supervisor.
On this day, 9 more people were additionally booked on charges including bribery related to the association president election and the selection of subcontracting companies, as well as violations of the Attorney-at-law Act. However, since 2 of them overlap with the previously booked 7, a total of 14 people are effectively booked and under investigation.
The supervisor, who is supposed to confirm and supervise on-site whether the work is proceeding according to the demolition plan, reportedly signed a non-resident contract and stated that they did not write a ‘supervision log.’
However, regarding suspicions that the supervisor visited the office before the search and concealed materials, the police explained that the investigation confirmed that nothing was specifically taken out from the office.
The police are continuing the investigation based on the testimony of the representative of Baeksol, the subcontracting company, who is an excavator operator and claimed to have never seen the demolition plan or supervision documents.
The possibility of collusion with public officials is also being considered in the investigation, but so far, no public officials have been booked, the police said. However, they plan to investigate further based on materials secured through the search and to identify additional suspects.
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